Monday, May 3, 2010

Messy Monday -- Mother's Day Keepsakes

I remember making all sorts of random things for my parents for different holidays.  I also remember as a teenager wondering why my mom still had all of them...especially since neither one of us remembered what most of them were supposed to be anymore.  A couple of years ago I got my first random thing for Mother's Day and I instantly knew why my mom kept them all of those years.  I've got a nice little collection going, and I can't wait to add to it!

Salt Dough Keepsakes
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup table salt
  • 3/4 to 1 cup water
  • Mod Podge or other sealing craft glue
  1. Mix the flour and salt thoroughly in a bowl.
  2. Add 3/4 cup water and stir with a wooden spoon until you can't stir it anymore.
  3. Slowly add up to 1/4 cup more until you are able to work all of the flour and salt into a stiff dough.
  4. Turn it out onto the counter or a cutting board and knead for 5-10 minutes.  You want a stiff but smooth dough.  If it gets sticky, you can add just a bit more flour, but be careful not to add too much or your keepsakes will crack when you are cooking them.
  5. Roll them out with a rolling pin to about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch thick and cut with cookie cutters (or whatever you want).
  6. Put shapes on a plate and let them sit for a 2-3 hours.  You want the tops to dry out.  Flip them over (you will probably need to use a spatula to carefully loosen them from the plate) and put them in the microwave.
  7. Cook at 50% power for 3 minutes.  Check to see if they are cooked all of the way.  If not, keep cooking at 50% power a minute at a time until they are dried out.  After 4-5 minutes on one side, you should flip them over and finish cooking them on the other side.  If you get bubbles, pop them with a toothpick and push them back down.  It will bubble a little bit, but you don't want it to take over the whole side.
  8. Let them cool completely and decorate them however you like.  You can use craft paint, markers, glitter glue, regular glitter, tissue paper decoupage. Have fun with it and get creative!
  9. Once decorated how you want, cover the tops, sides, and bottoms with Mod Podge or other craft glue that also seals a project.  You will probably have to do this is stages letting it dry in between.
These would be great for Moms, Grandmas, Aunts, Teachers, Ballet Instructors, etc.  If you make these (or any other activity/craft on this site), send me pictures and I will post them for everyone to see.  Just email them to me at pumpkinpatchdesigns@hotmail.com  Thanks!

Have you done something for Messy Monday?  Link it up!!!

1.  Link to the actual blog post, not to your main blog address
2.  Copy and past the Messy Monday html code and put it in your post so everyone else knows how to get back here and see what others have done.

 
 

3.  Visit other Messy Monday posts and leave some comment love!

I'm also linking these up to the following sites. Go check them out!
Sumo Sweet Stuff Making

2 comments:

Mandy Beyeler said...

Thanks for checking out my blog! I linked up my sewing party - not sure if this was the right venue for that, so if you want to delete it I don't mind

Maria@BubblegumandDuctTape said...

thanks for inviting me to your linky party. I'm adding you to my Monday party list.